Brad Garlinghouse (Ripple CEO): About Cryptocurrencies

Details: Cryptocurrency Trade Signals

Brad Garlinghouse "Most cryptocurrencies will lose all of their value"

at Goldman Sachs' Technology and Internet Conference

Key Points:

Long-term value will be dictated by the utility of each coin
Most cryptocurrencies will lose all of their value, as these coins are simply not very useful as a transactional currency
Some have criticized Ripple for holding the majority of XRP in company reserves
Garlinghouse said Bitcoin — which he says is 1000 times slower and more expensive than XRP — will still be used as a store of value, similar to gold

Speaking to an audience of analysts at the Goldman Sachs' Technology and Internet Conference, Garlinghouse (Ripple CEO) said he believes "most" cryptocurrencies will eventually lose all of their value. In short, he believes that most of these coins are simply not very useful as a transactional currency, meaning there's no reason for them to exist.

"It's not clear what the use case is. It's not clear the what value proposition is," he told the audience. "Long-term value will be dictated by the utility of that asset."

Though Garlinghouse's stance may seem rigid for someone whose company has come into prominence thanks to the recent crypto-craze, he hasn't written off all digital currencies.

Garlinghouse gave nod to the idea that bitcoin — which he says is 1000 times slower and more expensive than XRP — will still be used as a store of value, similar to the role that gold has played for. But it won't be used for payments, in his opinion.

"Bitcoin is going to solve a different problem," he said.

About Ripple

Ripple (XRP) is a token very specifically intended for doing fast and low-cost international transactions between banks. To Garlinghouse's point, that is the purpose of XRP. XRP holds the third highest market cap of any cryptocurrency, at $40.1 billion ($106 billion based on total supply).

Still, some have criticized Ripple for holding the majority of XRP in company reserves, thus giving the company more influence over the price of the coin. This is in contrast to Bitcoin, where inflation is determined by the rate at which "miners" generate new coins.

Ripple (XRP) is a token very specifically intended for doing fast and low-cost international transactions between banks